[Vision2020] Idiocy of the IDT

[Art Deco]

Idiocy of the IDT and resulting tragedies:

Below is a story from the Lewiston Morning Tribune of a serious collision that happened at the intersection of US 95 and Lewis Road (about 5 miles north of Moscow) on Sunday evening.  This intersection has been the scene of numerous injury and fatal collisions for a long, long time.  These collisions almost always involve someone crashing into a vehicle turning either right or left onto Lewis road from US 95.  

The more serious collisions occur when someone is struck turning left onto Lewis Road.  The collisions involving left turning vehicles are serious because the southbound traffic proceeds down a fairly steep highway grade.  Semis, in particular, have a difficult time slowing enough if they are not paying attention soon enough; in the winter when roads are snowy or icy the problem is particularly egregious.

The IDT recently redesigned this intersection providing a right turn lane and a continuation of that lane into a passing lane for the northbound (uphill) traffic, but did not include the most needed element for safety -- a left turn lane.  This project was supposed to be completed last fall, but problems have stopped its completion.  For a while there was a huge safety problem leaving paved/surfaces unmarked after construction was halted;  Tom Trail intervened with the IDT and as a result this problem was partially fixed.

The project is still incomplete.  [Part of the retaining wall recently constructed appears to be beginning to bulge, also.]  There is still time for a redesign to place a much needed left hand turn lane in place.

I hope the previous IDT idiocy can be mitigated by a common sense solution before more deaths and injuries occur.

About two miles or so further north on US 95 there is a similar left turn problem at Four Mile Road.  Numerous collisions involving left turning vehicles have occurred here also.  There is no excuse for this idiocy at this intersection as there is enough pavement already in place for a left turn lane to be installed.

If these situations are not changed very soon, then perhaps we need to start replacing the IDT personnel responsible for these kinds of stupidly negligent actions.

[Note to IDT main office:  please forward this email to the Lewiston District Engineer, James F. Carpenter.]


Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975


Four people hurt in crash north of Moscow
MOSCOW - Four people were injured in a four-car accident Sunday afternoon north of here near the intersection of Lewis Road, according to an Idaho State Police report. 

The driver of one vehicle, 23-year-old Dominique K. Aldecoa, of Spokane, was cited for inattentive careless driving, according to the report. 

Those injured were Jared Check, of Kuna, and Trevor Burkholder, of Boise, both passengers in Aldecoa's 2000 Hyundai Elantra; Lucas J. Dixon, 17, of Potlatch, the driver of a 1999 Toyota 4-Runner, and Cody M. Brown, of Potlatch, a passenger in Dixon's vehicle. 

A Gritman Medical Center spokesperson said Check, Dixon and Brown were treated for injuries and released. Burkholder remained in the hospital Sunday night in stable condition, the spokesperson said. 

Drivers of two other vehicles, Donald S. Hammar, 19, of Post Falls, and Thomas M. Knoebber, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, were not injured, according to the report. Hammar was driving a 2001 Ford Focus, while Knoebber was driving a 1999 Ford Explorer. All involved in the accident, except Burkholder, were wearing seat belts, according to the report. 

Three vehicles were nearing the intersection and about to stop for a minivan that was preparing to turn left onto Lewis Road, the report said. "As the Ford Explorer, 4-Runner and Ford Focus approached the intersection, the driver of the Ford Focus observed the Hyundai approaching from behind them at a high rate of speed," the report aid. 

Hammar swerved onto the shoulder and into the guardrail before being sideswiped in the driver's side by Aldecoa's Hyundai, according to the report. The Hyundai then collided with the rear of the 4-Runner, pushing it into the rear of the Explorer, according to the report. 

The accident happened around 4 p.m. and traffic had to be diverted to one lane around the scene. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20100322/d6c955b9/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20100322/d6c955b9/attachment.obj